How To Develop An Employee Engagement Action Plan Template

Conducting an in-depth employee survey is an important first step managers can take to better address their workforce's overall happiness and engagement levels. But it's not the only step. While comprehensive insights from a tool like Qualee are great, they're only valuable when acted upon.

This is the basis of an employee engagement action plan. Read on as we explain the concept, what creating a plan involves, the hurdles it can entail, and how HR professionals can ensure the success of their own employee engagement initiatives.

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What Is an Employee Engagement Action Plan?

An employee engagement action plan is a document that outlines the necessary steps to increase team or company-wide morale and performance levels as well as recognize accomplishments. It’s a way of formalizing the goals set from survey results by putting them into tangible actions that will lead to their accomplishment.

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Why create an Employee Engagement Action Plan?

Employee engagement plans empower HR and managers to take tangible steps toward creating positive change in the workplace. They ensure that everyone is on the same page when it comes to improving employee engagement, making sure that all team members are aware of their responsibilities as part of the plan’s implementation process.

Action plans are similarly a great way for organizations to track progress towards meeting goals, incentivize employees for accomplishing objectives, and create a sense of unity amongst staff.

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Why Employee Engagement Action Plans Aren't Always Successful

Employee engagement action plans are unfortunately rare; according to research data from Gallup^[1], only 55% of professionals who expect to receive workplace survey results actually get them. An even smaller eight percent strongly believe in their employer's ability to take action.

The reasons for this can vary. Sometimes, employers simply don't recognize the importance of making a plan, or how to go about making one. They administer a workplace satisfaction survey and assume that's all there is to staff engagement - it shows they care, but without a carefully thought out plan of action, it's often not enough.

Other times, company administrators face hurdles in implementing changes and getting full buy-in from employees and key stakeholders. Read below as we outline and explain four of the biggest roadblocks that can derail employee engagement action plans.

1. Lack of Support from Leadership

Change starts at the top for any organization. It's up to leaders to not only support measures designed to improve their companies' working environment, but also set an example and consistently demonstrate the values they want to embody.

If employees don't hear from their supervisors that investing in employee engagement is a priority, chances are it won't be on anyone's radar - no matter how well-intentioned they may be. After a survey has been completed, staff have done their part. It's up to leadership to take the next steps.

2. Unclear Goals

It's safe to say that employee engagement is an area of interest for most, if not all businesses today. The benefits of having an active work environment are plentiful, honing the potential to improve both business outcomes and staff retention. But beyond simply wanting to support engagement, few managers actually take the time to stop and think about what that looks like in practice.

3. Poor Communication

Communication is the foundation of every human relationship, and those in the workplace are no exception.

When employers fail to keep employees and stakeholders in the loop, they miss out on providing important context and understanding of why engagement plans are in place. This can result in resistance or even suspicion from those who don't understand the plan's purpose, or don't agree with it.

4. Inability to Measure Results

It's difficult to measure the success of an engagement plan if its purpose is not clearly defined or communicated, as mentioned earlier. Without a way to measure the success of a plan, it's hard to tell if any changes implemented are actually having an impact.

Employee engagement plans should incorporate both qualitative and quantitative metrics in order to accurately assess progress and make adjustments accordingly. This could include follow-up surveys, surveys to measure employee satisfaction, and even focus group discussions.

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Overcoming Barriers When Implementing Employee Engagement Action Plans

Challenges abound, HR professionals aren't hopeless in implementing real changes through organizational employee engagement action plans. Successful results ultimately come down to keeping a few key things in mind throughout the process. These include

Identifying the Right Goals

The first step in creating successful employee engagement action plans is to identify and target the right goals. It's important to keep in mind that these goals should be tailored specifically to each organization’s unique circumstances, needs, and mission objectives, rather than replicating existing models.

Making Goals Achievable

The next step is to ensure that the goals are achievable and realistic. This means setting appropriate timelines, ensuring resources are available for execution of action plans, and closely monitoring progress.

Keeping Communication Channels Open

No plan is ever perfect from the get-go. It's very likely that modifications and adjustments will need to be made along the way, which is why maintaining open communication channels between management and employees is essential for successful implementation.

Using Good Employee Engagement Tools

An employee engagement action plan cannot be successful without the right tools and resources. There are many different types of employee engagement tools available, ranging from surveys and polls to online discussion forums. Utilizing these can help ensure that employees’ voices are heard and their feedback is incorporated in a direct way.

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Employee Engagement Action Plan Templates

Employee engagement action plans aren't one-size-fits all. Every company has different needs, and every action plan should be tailored to the specific challenges that organization is facing.

That said, there are some key elements that any good plan should include:

• A clear vision and mission statement for the plan
• A list of SMART objectives to be achieved
• Strategies for achieving those objectives, broken down into tangible steps
• Key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success

These templates are a great resource to get the planning process started with:

• Workshop - Employee Engagement Action Plan Template^[2]
• Creately - Employee Engagement Action Plan^[3]
• ClickUp - Employee Engagement Action Plan^[4]

Qualee is the modern workforce's tool of choice for managing and tracking the success of employee engagement action plans. Qualee's intuitive platform allows managers to track progress on goals in real time, providing visibility into which strategies are working and where improvements can be made. Get started today.

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[1] https://www.gallup.com/workplace/241253/ways-botch-employee-surveys.aspx

[2] https://useworkshop.com/resources/employee-engagement-action-plan-template/

[3] https://creately.com/diagram/example/YeYKoenNsst/employee-engagement-action-plan

[4] https://clickup.com/templates/employee-engagement-action-plan-kkmvq-6114644